Éder Gabriel Militão Pinheiro (born 18 January 1998) is a Brazilian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for the

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and the Brazil national team. Militão began his career at

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, playing 57 matches over a span of two years before transferring to

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

. In 2019, after one season in Portugal, he joined Real Madrid for a reported transfer fee of €50 million. He won two

titles, 2 Champions League titles and the

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. Militão made his senior international debut for

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in 2018. He was part of their squads that won the

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and came runners-up in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, also playing at the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

and the

2024 Copa América The 2024 Copa América was the 48th edition of the Copa América, the quadrennial international men's association football, soccer championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in the United Sta ...

Club career

São Paulo

Born in

Sertãozinho Sertãozinho is a Brazilian municipality in the state of São Paulo. The population in 2020 was about 127,142. Its area is 403 km2. The municipality consists of Sertãozinho city and two districts: Cruz das Posses and Vila Garcia. Sertãozi ...

in the state of São Paulo, Militão began playing for

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube () is a professional Association football, football club in the Morumbi, São Paulo, Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil. It plays in Campeonato Paulista, São Paulo (state), São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

youth squads in 2010. He started in the first team for the 2016

Copa Paulista The Copa Paulista de Futebol, formerly known as Copa FPF, also sometimes called Copa Federação Paulista de Futebol or, in English, São Paulo State Cup, is a tournament organized by Federação Paulista de Futebol Company every second half of ...

, and debuted on 2 July in a 2–1 loss at Ituano; the team from the state capital was playing in the tournament for its first time, with an U20 team. He played 11 matches and scored 2 goals, the first being in a 4–0 home win over CA Juventus on 18 September that ensured qualification to the second round. Militão made his professional debut on 14 May 2017 in a 1–0 loss away to Cruzeiro, the opening match for the

2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was the 61st season of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top level of professional football in Brazil, and the 14th edition in a double round-robin since its establishment in 2003. The season began on ...

. He made 22 appearances over the season as the club finished in 13th place, and was sent off on 12 November towards the end of a 1–1 draw at

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

. He contributed two goals over the campaign, starting by opening a 2–1 win at fellow strugglers Vitória on 17 September. Militão made his last appearance for the club on 5 August 2018 when the ''Tricolor'' defeated Vasco 2–1 to reach first place in the year's national tournament.

Porto

On 7 August 2018, Militão signed a five-year contract with Portuguese defending champions

. He made his

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

debut on 2 September, starting in a 3–0 home win over Moreirense and assisting Porto's first goal, scored by captain Héctor Herrera. Over succeeding fixtures, Militão quickly cemented himself in the starting 11 as a

, forming a defensive partnership with teammate Felipe. On 28 November, Militão scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 home victory against

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

for the

2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage The 2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage began on 18 September and ended on 12 December 2018. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout phase of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League. Draw The dra ...

, heading the ball after a cross from Óliver. On 3 January 2019, Militão scored his first league goal, the match's only at Desportivo das Aves. He was named Primeira Liga's defender of the month on four consecutive occasions from September 2018 to January 2019.

Real Madrid

2019–2021

On 14 March 2019,

club

announced that they had signed Militão to a six-year contract effective 1 July 2019 after paying a €50 million transfer fee to Porto. He made his debut on 14 September, coming on as a substitute for

Sergio Ramos Sergio Ramos García (; born 30 March 1986) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captain (association football), captains Liga MX club C.F. Monterrey, Monterrey. Regarded as one of the gr ...

for the last half-hour in a 3–2 home victory over Levante. He made 15 appearances during the league season as Real Madrid won the

2019–20 La Liga The 2019–20 La Liga season, also known as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, was the 89th since its establishment. The season began on 16 August 2019 and was originally scheduled to conclude on 24 May 2020. Barcelona were the two-time ...

. Militão scored his debut goal for Madrid on 20 January 2021, heading in

Marcelo Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus (name), Marcellus. Marcelo may refer to: Given name *Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapist, and necrophile *Marcelo Arriagada (born 1973), Chile ...

's cross to open a

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

last 32 match away to third-tier Alcoyano; his team unexpectedly lost, 2–1. His debut league goal came on 1 May in a 2–0 win over

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

2021–2022: UEFA Champions League winner

In 2021–22, Militão finally became a regular after the exits of veterans

and

Raphaël Varane Raphaël Xavier Varane (; born 25 April 1993) is a French former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Varane played for French club RC Lens, Lens at youth level and, ahead of the 2010–11 in French footba ...

from the Madrid defence. He partnered Austrian import

David Alaba David Alaba (; born 24 June 1992) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Austria national team. He was previously primarily a left-back, and was considered one of the best ...

, under the management of

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti (; born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Brazil national team. Nicknamed "Carletto" in Italy and "Don Carlo" in Spain, he is regarded as one of the greatest ...

. He scored once in their league-winning campaign, securing a 2–2 home draw with

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

on 23 January. Days earlier, the team won the

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

with a 2–0 final win over

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

in Saudi Arabia, though he was sent off for giving away a penalty through handball. He made 12 appearances in their victorious Champions League campaign, including the 1–0 final win over

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

at the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

2022–2023: Major trophies

During the 2022–23 season, Militão was a part of the squad won several tournaments. In the

2022 FIFA Club World Cup final The 2022 FIFA Club World Cup final was the final match of the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup, an international club football tournament hosted by Morocco. It was the 19th final of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised tournament between the club c ...

, held on 11 February 2023, Real Madrid won 5–3 against Al Hilal. Nine days later against Liverpool at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

during the

knockout phase A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

first-leg clash, Militão headed a goal as his team overcame a 2–0 deficit to win 5–2. This match was notable for Real Madrid's impressive performance, overturning a 2–0 deficit to secure a 5–2 victory over Liverpool. On 6 May, Real Madrid won the

by defeating Osasuna 2–1 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, which took place at Estadio de La Cartuja. On 10 August, In the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

, Real Madrid won against

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

at the

Helsinki Olympic Stadium The Helsinki Olympic Stadium (; ), located in the Töölö district about from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country. The stadium is best known for being the centre of activities in the 1952 Summer ...

, a 2–0 victory

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

2023–2024: Injuries and contract extension

On 12 August 2023, Militão suffered a torn Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee during the first La Liga game of the season against Athletic Bilbao. This injury led to him being sidelined for the entire season, with a recovery period estimated at nine months. On 23 January 2024, Militão signed a new contract, running until 2028. His contract gave him a pay raise, as well as adding a €1 billion release clause, the maximum allowed under La Liga regulation. Later that year, on 9 November, he sustained an ACL rupture along with damaged meniscuses in his right leg which would sideline him for the rest of the 2024–25 season.

International career

In September 2018, Militão was called-up by coach Tite for

's friendlies in the United States against the hosts and

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

after Fagner withdrew with injury. He made his debut on 11 September against the Salvadorans at

FedExField Northwest Stadium is an American football stadium in Landover, Maryland, U.S., located east of Washington, D.C.. It is the home stadium of the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). From 2004 until 2010, it had the NFL's ...

, playing the full 90 minutes of a 5–0 win. In May 2019, Militão was included in Brazil's 23-man squad for the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and 7 Ju ...

. In the

against

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

on 7 July, held at the

Maracanã Stadium Maracanã Stadium (, ; named after the Maracanã River), officially known as Jornalista Mário Filho Stadium (, ; , named after Mário Filho), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Located in the Maracanã neighbor ...

, he made a substitute appearance, coming on for Philippe Coutinho in the second half as his team won, 3–1. Militão was named for the

2021 Copa América The 2021 Copa América was the 47th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football, football championship organised by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament took place in Brazil from 13 June to ...

, again on home soil. He started three group games, and in the last one against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Goiânia Goiânia ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-larges ...

on 27 June, he scored his first international goal to open a 1–1 draw. In the knockout rounds, as Brazil made the final, his spot next to Marquinhos was taken by

Thiago Silva Thiago Emiliano da Silva (born 22 September 1984) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Fluminense. Regarded as one of the best defenders of all time, he is known ...

. On 7 November 2022, Militão was named in the squad for the

. Unused in the opener against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, he played at right-back in place of the injured

Danilo Danilo is a given name found in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Serbian. Notable people with the name Danilo include: Athletes Footballers * Danilo (footballer, born 1979), Brazilian footballer Danilo de Andrade * Danilo (footballer, born ...

in the 1–0 win over

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in the second group game, and retained his place for the rest of the run to the quarter-finals as the recovered Danilo was placed on the left flank. With qualification already secured, he started in central defence alongside Bremer in a 1–0 loss to

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

in the last group game.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Brazil score listed first, score column indicates score after each Militão goal''

Honours

Real Madrid *

: 2019–20, 2021–22, 2023–24 *

: 2022–23 *

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

: 2021–22, 2023–24 *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Brazil *

Superclásico de las Américas The Superclassic of the Americas (, ), was an annual Exhibition game, friendly association football, football match between the national teams of Argentina national football team, Argentina and Brazil national football team, Brazil. Established ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual * Primeira Liga Team of the Year: 2018–19 * Primeira Liga Player Fair-Play Prize: 2018–19 * La Liga Team of the Season: 2021–22, 2022–23 * ESM Team of the Season: 2022–23

References

External links

Éder Militão
at the Real Madrid CF website
Éder Militão
at the La Liga website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Militao, Eder 1998 births Living people People from Sertãozinho Footballers from São Paulo (state) Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football defenders São Paulo FC players FC Porto players Real Madrid CF players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Primeira Liga players La Liga players UEFA Champions League–winning players Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazil men's international footballers 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2024 Copa América players Copa América–winning players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen